Travel notes: Hershey's store opens in Vegas

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A chocolate lover’s paradise featuring a giant, Hershey bar replica of the Empire State Building is now open on the Las Vegas Strip.

The two-story Hershey’s Chocolate World store debuted Tuesday at the New York-New York casino. It features a super-sized Reese’s peanut butter cup on its facade and an 800-pound replica of the Statue of Liberty carved out of milk chocolate.

The store is not the only place on the Strip where tourists can satisfy their sweet tooth. A four-level M&M’s World across the street is a shrine to rival company Mars’ signature candy.

The Bellagio is also home to a floor-to-ceiling chocolate fountain that’s certified as the world’s largest.

Hershey’s has similar stores in Times Square, Niagara Falls, Chicago, Singapore, Dubai and Shanghai.

Tarmac becomes stage for violinist

A dispute over two violins on a US Airways flight ended with a musician fiddling away his time on the tarmac at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina.

The feud resulted in a YouTube video that has more than 200,000 views.

The musicians, Zach De Pue and Nick Kendall, from the group Time for Three, were making a connection in Charlotte on their way to a music festival in Arkansas.

According to De Pue and Kendall, the pilot told them that federal laws require that all musical instruments be checked in the cargo bin.

When the musicians refused to check their instruments, they were directed off the plane and onto the tarmac, where De Pue played his violin in protest as Kendall documented the performance on a video camera.

According to US Airways, the violins would not fit in the overhead bin. Still, the carrier issued a statement, apologizing to the musicians and booked them on a later flight.

For the record, Federal Aviation Administration officials say federal law allows musical instruments as carry-on items as long as they fit under the seat or in the overhead bin.

“You can even bring a guitar if it fits in the overhead bin,” said FAA spokesman Ian Gregor.